Japanese manufacturer Subaru will join the British Touring Car Championship in 2016, having secured a deal with reigning teams' champion BMR.

The BMR outfit, now contracted with Subaru on a three-year-deal, will run two Subaru Levorg Sports Tourers for Jason Plato and Colin Turkington in the upcoming season.

"We’re very excited to have teamed up with BMR from the 2016 championship – the first time a Subaru has competed in BTCC," said Subaru's UK and Ireland boss Paul Tunnicliffe.

"Although the Levorg features Subaru's famed all-wheel drive system, the car can be easily developed to compete with rear-wheel drive in order to comply with the BTCC regulations.

"We can’t wait to see how it goes against very established competition.”

Plato and Turkington, both two-time BTCC champions, joined BMR in 2015 and delivered a combined total of 10 wins for its Volkswagen CCs.

"Part of my role when joining BMR was to help secure a manufacturer deal,” confided Plato. “The iconic Subaru brand has always been right at the top of my wishlist."

Turkington added: "Continuing with Team BMR for the 2016 season was an easy decision for me and represents a great opportunity to build on our strong maiden campaign."

The announcement puts into doubt the BTCC future of the team's third driver Aron Smith, who had a public falling out with Plato late last season amid a team orders dispute and does not feature in the team's most recent announcement.